SPINEL
by AnimatedTragedyRaiden
Summary: Spinel, a gem training to fight for Homeworld during the war, is nearing the completion of his training and is ready to fight for control of the Earth. After meeting a certain gem, however, he struggles to figure out how he feels and who he is really loyal towards. Reviews and critiques are welcome!


(A/N): This story was proofread by my friend, kimochiis.

You can reach me on my tumblr at animatedtragedy.

* * *

"Your one purpose… is to serve your diamond."

Jasper stands in front of Spinel, back turned to him.

"You live by _her will_ and _**her will alone.**_ "

She turns around, with a hard scowl on her face.

"When you start to think for yourself, you become just as low as the enemy."

She stares Spinel straight in the eyes.

"Yellow Diamond has no room for runts. So... show me what you've got."

Spinel draws his weapon from his gem, readying himself. A hoard of holo-rubies, opposite himself, begin to charge forward. Spinel leaps directly up in the air, and lands behind them. He gets the drop on one, slashing right through it's gem.

"Good," Jasper murmurs.

Spinel quickly makes work of the rest of them.

"They've been able to turn any of us into disgraces, are you prepared for that?"

A holo-bismuth charges towards him, hands shapeshifted into hammers. Several swings of the hologram's hand nearly hit him, but he's able to evade in time. With some difficulty, Spinel manages to stab through the hologram's chest.

"Even a lousy Pearl can become your enemy."

Both the holo-pearl and Spinel's blades lock. The holo-pearl parries once, twice, before Spinel finally thrusts through its gem.

"Alright, you're done here. back to you quarters."

Spinel returns to his quarters, a large tent not too far from the training grounds. He sits down on the cot, and his head immediately darts towards the sound of someone entering the tent, their arms brushing against the drapes covering the entrance.

An Emerald enters. "Are you… the Spinel I saw?"

Her question is met with silence, so she continues speaking.

"Uhmm, hello. I noticed your tactics on training and I just wanted to -"

Spinel interrupts her before she can continue. "Do you need something?"

She stops for a moment, visibly embarrassed. "Well, I uh… I suppose not, I just wanted to tell you I respect your strategy! Your skill and speed is incredible!"

Spinel speaks up again. "Listen, thanks for the encouragement, but I need time alone."

Emerald looks to the ground, frowning. "My apologies, I just… I've never told anyone this, but I… I've always wanted to be a fighter! But…"

Spinel feels a wave of sympathy for the gem, but is unsure of what to say. "Errr… why would you wanna do that? Emeralds aren't produced for combat."

Emerald sighs, and Spinel notices her forlorn look and feels even more sorry for her.

"I, I never felt as though I had a purpose. I want to help! I want to be of use! I feel like, on the battlefield, I could truly be of service. I, uhm, sorry, I'm rambling… uhm, anyway!" She suddenly looks excited before exclaiming, "You're trained by Jasper, right? _The_ legendary Jasper?! Is the rumor true? Is she really a perfect quartz?!"

Spinel looks away from Emerald, his face becoming downcast. "We don't necessarily have too many conversations… We used to be closer, but that was before she…"

Emerald continuously shifts her eyes to Spinel's forehead as he speaks.

"Uhm, excuse my coarseness, I didn't want to mention it but, what is that? On your forehead?"

Spinel's hands gently move up his head. His fingers feel for the foreign body lodged in his head.

"A shard."

Emerald becomes visibly uncomfortable.

"A… shard?"

Spinel looks up at her and states, "A shard. Of a Peridot."

She looks away from him and fidgets with the sash around her waist.

"There's a reason you don't see me around the colony."

She stood in front of him, wanting to fill in the silence, but not wanting to ask the obvious. She finally works up the courage to speak up.

"What happened…?"

Spinel's eyes meet with the ground. "It's not a story I like to tell. Look, I made a mistake. I disrespected my diamond's will, and now i'm paying the price."

Emerald, although unsure exactly what to think, feels a wave of pity and anger. In reality, she never wanted to fight for Homeworld. She hated the oppressive control of Yellow Diamond, but she could never reveal who she truly wanted to fight for.

"It was nice talking with you, Emerald, but it would best if you just left."

She unclenches the fist she subconsciously formed and left.

Spinel didn't usually have much to do when the sun was down, during this "night", as it was called. The colony was still active during this time, but he wasn't able to leave.

With the loss of the sun, visibility was low, making an escape even easier. If he tried to leave, however, Jasper would not spare his life again. She would shatter him on the spot, or worse.

Thankfully, there was something there was something to pass the time.

Tons of organic life on Earth undergo a hibernation period, mainly at night. This period of unconsciousness lasts until around sunrise, usually. Several gems who first traveled to Earth with Pink Diamond attempted to do the same, and made an amazing discovery. While in hibernation, a gem releases a projection- a visual representation of the gem's thoughts, subconscious, or even memories.

It became a fad among gems for a while, but has since been outlawed by Yellow Diamond. However, rumors of tests to induce hibernation, to read the thoughts of a gem suspected to be a rebel, or to retrieve valuable information from rebels Homeworld has captive, have come up recently.

Spinel was about to go into said hibernation, just like he did every night. Although outlawed, no one else would be able to see or hear the projection from outside the tent. The sentries who came around every so often don't seem to care either. In the eyes of the colony, he practically didn't exist. Infact, the Emerald who spoke to him was the first gem he had come in contact with in a long time besides Jasper and the pearl who projected the holograms.

Come to think of it, how had she seen him in the training grounds? The thought had never crossed his mind before then, but during his training, the grounds are completely off limits to everyone except him, Jasper, and the Pearl. Did she have some kind of special clearance? How come he never noticed her? These thoughts wandered off as he tried to focus on hibernation.

* * *

" _What is all this?" Spinel asks, feeling raindrops plop onto his face and shoulders._

 _Jasper is standing beside him, arms crossed, inspecting the view from the high up platform._

" _You see that body of water to the north?" she asks, motioning toward the lake's direction, "The sun evaporates the water, and it moves up, into the sky, and shapes into the white fluffs we see at day."_

 _She pauses for a brief moment before continuing, "Eventually these fluffs get so heavy, they can't stand to sit in the sky any longer. They fall down back to Earth, as water."_

 _Spinel is marveling at the rain, letting the drops dance on his outstretched hand._

 _He turns to Jasper and says, awestruck,_

" _This… Earth, is amazing."_

 _Her gaze moves to him, and she grins._

* * *

Spinel didn't have much to do while waiting for training time to come. Usually he'd just roam around the colony until it was time; not necessarily speaking to anyone, just lurking. However, he'd always make it seem like he had somewhere important to go.

Jasper was so confident in his abilities, he had been relieved of all other duties. That didn't mean training wasn't still vigorous, but there were low times.

All combat-made gems, no matter how skilled, had to go through two years of training before being released into battle. Spinel was nearing the end of year one, which was an exciting prospect, but it was hard not to feel alienated in the colony. He didn't know anyone, and didn't have anything interesting to say to them.

The diplomats seemed the most approachable. They were peaceful, calm gems who always seemed to have free time. He didn't want to bother anyone, though. It wasn't the best to have friends anyway, as Yellow Diamond has stated. They become a distraction, and can lead to disrespecting her will.

That was everyone's biggest concern: upsetting Yellow Diamond.

Spinel was wandering around aimlessly when he suddenly realized time for training was dangerously close. He worked himself to a sprint, darting past gems left and right. If he didn't make it on time, he'd be shattered for sure.

Before he knew it, he had ran right into someone, and fallen onto the ground. He was put into a complete stupor.

"Huh…?"

A high-pitched, nasally sound erupts from above him. " _Excuse me!_ "

A Peridot was standing over him.

"WHAT was that about?" she backs away and whispers "...dumb clod…" under her breath.

"I was in a hurry. uhm…"

She leans back in and says, "Well you've gone and broken my things."

She held up some kind of stick, broken in half, with wires seeping out on the middle. He couldn't tell you exactly what it was.

"I require you to escort me back to retrieve a new one"

Spinel finally gets up and is able to speak coherently.

"Listen I've got places to go, and I'm already late for-"

She interrupts him, yelling, "I don't care what you're late for! I will _report this to Yellow Diamond_ if you don't escort me!"

Spinel had no other choice but to go wherever she needed to go.

"We don't actually have to retrieve a new one," she explains, "just the parts to it. I'll have to construct a new one. Jasper will be _very_ unhappy."

Spinel stops dead in his tracks.

"Wait… you're taking it to Jasper?"

Peridot responds sassily, "Duh, it's an experimental weapon that Jasper wants to test on the field."

Spinel was suddenly relieved.

"That's good, this is good. You can explain to her that I was helping you!"

Peridot gave off an awkward tone, "Weeell, I uhhhh, sure(?)"

They finally got the parts, went back to Peridot's work station, and sat next to each other.

"So what is this thing, anyways?"

Peridot, not even looking up from it, explains: "Well, it doesn't really have a name yet, in fact i'm not even supposed to talk about it yet… someone as _low_ as you shouldn't be a problem though… This rod is designed to dissipate gem projections and separate fusions."

Spinel watched nervously as she worked away.

"Does it… work?"

She smiled and looked up at him suddenly.

"Wanna find out?"

Spinel was amazed at the piece of technology. Something like this could bring a turning point to the war.

Peridot got out of her seat.

"Well it's complete," She scoffs, " _No thanks to you._ Now let's uhm.. get to Jasper."

Spinel felt a hole in his stomach. Jasper would be extremely disappointed in him. He had never been late before, not once. She expected better of him than something as shameful as tardiness.

As they rushed to training grounds, there was a beautiful orange sunset following behind them.

They reached the grounds only to find Jasper standing in the middle, her back to them.

"Y'know, I didn't expect much out of a Peridot. But you, Spinel, I am disappointed in."

Peridot, who was nearly in tears from embarrassment, stood straight up in attention.

"Jasper! Please excuse him, this entire ordeal was _my_ wrongdoing!"

Jasper laughed a hearty laugh, and turned to face them.

"Please… spare me the details. Just never make my student late again." She said, winking at Peridot.

Spinel was incredibly surprised at Jasper's tone. Why was she being so forgiving with him?

"Now, where's this device that's caused so much trouble?"

Spinel responded questionably, "How did you know that I didn't come because of that?"

She smiled and responded lightheartedly, "You think I didn't hear about your little display from other gems around the colony? Spinel, try not to run around like an idiot next time you're late."

She laughed, which made Spinel gain an awkward smile, and Peridot to slowly laugh nervously.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Hand it over!"

Peridot inched her way up to her, and handed it over, stuttering, "The G-Gem Destabilizer. Ready for field testing!"

Jasper inspects it for a moment, then looks to Peridot.

"Thanks. Yellow Diamond should be pleased. I'm going to a neighbor colony for field testing. You two should head off. And Spinel..."

She looks to him with a serious expression, "Try not to be late next time. Yellow Diamond doesn't have room for goofs." her serious look fades, she gives off a smile, and walks away.

Peridot turns to Spinel and speaks softly to him.

"Well… that could have gone much worse, I-"

Peridot _hugs_ him, crying into his chest.

"I'M SORRY I PUT US BOTH INTO DANGER, WHAT AN _IDIOT_ I AM."

Spinel, insanely confused and unsure of what to do, puts his arms around her as well.

"Uh… No, it's okay. Not our fault."

Peridot just wails even harder, "YES I IS. I INSIST. IT WAS _MY FAULT."_

He just sort of stands there for a moment, Peridot in his arms. He gently rests his head on hers.

And it was at that moment, that they fused.

* * *

 _If I could begin to be,_

 _Half of what you think of me,  
I could do about anything,  
I could even learn how to love.  
When I see the way you act,  
Wondering when I'm coming back,  
I could do about anything,  
I could even learn how to love like _

_you._


End file.
